“Charge the Duc de Vicence to tell Mr. Adams that we have here an American minister who says nothing; that we need an active man whom one can comprehend, and by whose means we could come to an understanding with the Americans.”[203]
For three weeks Napoleon made no decision on the subject of the American Act; then, after settling the annexation of Holland, he wrote to Cadore July 31:[204]—
“After having much reflected on the affairs of America, I have thought that to repeal my Decrees of Berlin and Milan would have no effect; that it would be better for you to make a note to Mr. Armstrong by which you should let him know that you have put under my eyes the details contained in the American newspaper; that I should have liked to have a more official communication, but that time passes, and that,—since he assures me we may regard this as official,—he can consider that my Decrees of Berlin and Milan will have no effect, dating from November 1; and that he is to consider them as withdrawn in consequence of such Act of the American Congress, on condition that (à condition que) if the British Council does not withdraw its Orders of 1807, the United States Congress shall fulfil the engagement it has taken to re-establish its prohibitions on British commerce. This appears to me more suitable than a decree which would cause a shock (qui ferait secousse) and would not fulfil my object. This method appears to me more conformable to my dignity and to the seriousness of the affair.”
The Emperor himself, August 2, dictated the letter,—the most important he ever sent to the United States government. During the next three days he made numerous changes in the draft; but at last it was signed and sent to the American Legation.[205] Upon that paper, long famous as Cadore’s letter of Aug. 5, 1810, turned the course of subsequent events; but apart from its practical consequences the student of history, whether interested in the character of Napoleon or of Madison, or in the legal aspects of war and peace, or in the practice of governments and the capacity of different peoples for self-government, could find few examples or illustrations better suited to his purpose than the letter itself, the policy it revealed, and the manner in which it was received by the United States and Great Britain.
Cadore began by saying that he had communicated to the Emperor the newspaper containing the Act of Congress of May 1. The Emperor could have wished that all the acts of the United States government which concerned France had always been officially made known to him:—
“In general, he has only had indirect knowledge of them after a long interval of time. From this delay serious inconveniences have resulted which would not have existed had these acts been promptly and officially communicated.
“The Emperor applauded the general embargo laid by the United States on all their vessels, because that measure, if it has been prejudicial to France, had in it at least nothing offensive to her honor. It has caused her to lose her colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Cayenne; the Emperor has not complained of it. He has made this sacrifice to the principle which has determined the Americans to lay the embargo.... The Act of March 1 [1809] raised the embargo and substituted for it a measure the most injurious to the interests of France. This Act, of which the Emperor knew nothing until very lately, interdicted to American vessels the commerce of France at the time it authorized that to Spain, Naples, and Holland,—that is to say, to the countries under French influence,—and denounced confiscation against all French vessels which should enter the ports of America. Reprisal was a right, and commanded by the dignity of France,—a circumstance on which it was impossible to make a compromise (de transiger). The sequestration of all the American vessels in France has been the necessary consequence of the measure taken by Congress.”
This preamble, interesting for the novelty of its assertions both of fact and law, led to the conclusion that the Act of May 1, 1810, was a retreat from the Act of March 1, 1809, and warranted France in accepting the offer extended by both laws to the nation which should first “cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United States.”
“In this new state of things,” concluded Cadore, “I am authorized to declare to you, sir, that the Decrees of Berlin and Milan are revoked, and that after November 1 they will cease to have effect,—it being understood (bien entendu) that in consequence of this declaration the English are to revoke their Orders in Council, and renounce the new principles of blockade which they have wished to establish; or that the United States, conformably to the Act you have just communicated, cause their rights to be respected by the English.”
No phraseology could have more embarrassed President Madison, while, as Napoleon had remarked to Montalivet a few days before, “it is evident that we commit ourselves to nothing.”[206] So closely was the Imperial promise imitated from that given by Erskine that the President could hardly reject it, although no American merchant would have risked so much as a cargo of salt-fish on a pledge of such a kind from such a man. As though to warn the Americans, Napoleon added personal assurances that gave to the whole proceeding an unpleasant air of burlesque:—